Now I've admitted I'm a techno-lover (I blame formative years spent in the late-1980s).

I recall the Kraftwerk-"Music Selector is the Soul Reflector"-turn on the strobe light and "Dance Your Love Away"-scene as the ultimate in Good Times.

So two years ago when the girls and I happened across this odd little show on Noggin starring a funny black guy in an orange jumpsuit, furry hat, and horn-rimmed glasses dancing around to the musical stylings of Mark Mothersbaugh, we were checkin' that out!

Muno did give me pause, but the girls assured me he was just a hot dog from outer space. (Me: OK!)

Yo Gabba Gabba songs are available on iTunes. I recommend the following: "Don't Bite Your Friends" (good message for kids and adults); Party in My Tummy" (see above); "Working Together" (again, good for parents and kids); The episode "Dance" (for obvious reasons).

What does all this have to do with marketing you ask? Well, I'll tell ya. Recently, I came across an online forum dedicated to why the Twilight series was so successful.

There were a lot of haters going on about how badly the books were written (e.g., adverbs overload!) and feminist yadda yadda yadda. Personally, I thought the books were a lot of fun. I read them all in less than two weeks with a Disney trip thrown in the mix. They were entertaining and escapist and had an engaging love story.

But seriously, why would those books do better than say, a Sarah Dessen novel? My response = Marketing!

My reasoning was I would never have been aware of the books if I hadn't seen a big feature about Stephenie Myer and "the Twilight phenomenon" in Entertainment Weekly.

On the other hand, I've known about YGG for two years, and EW's just now getting around to going ape over the show.

So Marketing isn't the answer.

I don't know that they did much marketing for YGG and it still became huge. Maybe because it's on TV? Maybe because there's a buncha fan-parents out there who can't stop singing the songs and giggling about it to their friends?

What is making these books/shows so successful?

From what I understand there were lots of Moms out there reading Twilight before it went viral as well. Maybe that's it? If you can find something the kids like that the parents find irresistable as well, Eureka! You've done it?

I think it's the stylish clothes myself. I mean, heck. You can't beat that orange hat. And if I ever get anywhere near famous, I'm begging DJ Lance to please please please let me be a guest... I could teach everyone my Coco the Bird Lady dance!

Jackpot, Leigh! I think you're absolutely right. Even the toy shelves are following this ""cross-over" trend. Stuff that was popular when I was a kid is making a comeback. Why? Because the nostaligic adults are buying the stuff for their kids! And did you notice the remakes and sequels at the movies? Tron, Clash of the Titans...all stuff I watched way back when.

Thanks, guys! I was able to email most of you back... @Tracy--I like both HM & YGG, so no help there. But I'm still thinking about this. I think Anne's onto something. Perhaps this will be one of those "to be continued" posts~ <3

Yo Gabba Gabba always freaks me out a little. The whole thing is just surreal. But every time it's on, my daughter is like glued to the TV.

It's probably the same thing as Twilight. No matter what other issues the show/books have, you just can't take your eyes off them. It's rare when something like that can draw people in and I think that there's something to be said for that (no matter how bad Twilight is in reality). I read them in two weeks, too. I just couldn't stop. And my head was swimming in vampires and werewolves for weeks afterwards. You gotta give S. Meyers props for that.

No idea on this one. I assumed Twilight got so big because of marketing at first but honestly I think it's more word of mouth that gets things rolling into being huge. I only picked up Twilight after a lady at walmart wouldn't shut up about it. Before then I ignored them because I thought it sounded stupid and anything TV and magazines was blowing up on would be stupid (I have no idea why my mind decides these things. It really doesn't consult me on its opinions.) Same with YGG. I only watched it after someone said it was insane. Word of Mouth. That's where it's at.

Hmm, you bring out lots of good points. I think a novels has to cover many ages. Why do we love Pixar movies and find the Purple Dinosaur so annoying? Well, the Pixar movie is for many ages. Also, although Twilight is about paranormal, it delves into what many people go through internally.CD

I think my kids are to old for us to have hit the Yo Gabba Gabba thing. You were my first exposure.

As for Twilight, I will TELL YOU what it is. People read that heroine with NO PERSONALITY (and even less humor) and think HEY, I'm more interesting than her! I could have all these hot near humans fighting over ME TOO! (I swear, that's it).

I think it just hit a fluky trend--Harry Potter was nearing an end and nothing had picked up the void... the STORY is Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story (only with the personalities removed) but yes... brilliant covers (I wanted to like them) and a TON of buzz. And because every last one of us is more interesting than boring Bella, we can ALL believe we'd get the hottie...

I was just thinking about the Twilight series today and how quickly they became so popular. I mean, there have been several vampire love stories written way before the love affair between Bella and Edward. I think Meyer just understands the female perspective. We LIKE the bad boy personna (hence the vampire side of Edward), but in the end, we all want to be deeply loved by a GOOD guy (the protector in Edward). And it is young love. But, like you, I found it as a great escape novel, one that required little use of my brain, but refused for me to put it down! And the cover for all the novels was brillant! A twisted Snow White appeal.

@Scarlett--I think you're onto something. You + Hart. And I loved the covers, too. It's funny that even though we should't, we still judge books by them. :D But word of mouth... I've had an idea buzzing around in my head all day. Looks like tomorrow is Bonus Post Day~ :o)

B4 I had a baby I thot YGG was just sick, after i had a baby I started singing my name is Muno I like to dance - u get the point its very catchy and brad pitt did dress up like DJ Lance for halloween a couple of years back, did you also see the andy samberg sketch? point is they have some weirdly great content even french babies dance to it in the playground when I sing it.

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Welcome to the original Blog and now website for Author Leigh Talbert Moore.

Blog posts date back to 2010, so feel free to poke around through old posts chronicling my path to publication, from when I started as a traditional author with a literary agent through breaking out into the Indie world with my book The Truth About Faking!

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"Heartache, sadness, and just enough moments of humor. I found myself holding my breath one minute with so much anticipation for the next moments. Moore did a beautiful job with this book.” —Somertime Book Blog

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